


[Poison & Ancedotes] This Probably Won't End Well

by ButifulDeath



Category: Scion (Tabletop RPG)
Genre: Action, F/M, One Shot, Romance, Scion - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 22:11:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9405023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButifulDeath/pseuds/ButifulDeath
Summary: [Scion one shot from Harper's story]Flashing back to a genuine moment in their history, Harper recalls Storm before he joined the Titans.





	

_I'm not gonna let the emotions take over_   
_This probably won't end well, but maybe I can't tell_   
_Nothing will change, so just go through the motions_   
_It's better in my mind, believing our own lie_

Bavaria, Germany - Oktoberfest, no less. It was starting to get cold, but that didn’t bother Harper. She was about to be jammed into a ventilation system where the heat was on. Going in with a chill wasn’t going to be so bad.

The Nebra Sky Disc was on display in the Bavarian National Museum during Oktoberfest because someone was a fool. But then without fools, Harper's job wouldn’t be interesting. She'd covered all possible ins and outs, including emergency escape routes, and despite the museum being older, they’d renovated in the 90s to fit better ducting for air and heat. Less for the patrons, more for the artifacts - which Harper approved of. The ventilation system was the best way in and out. Not ideal, but the only place that security wasn’t covering. They knew how old their building was, and they did everything within budget to make it thief proof. They just didn’t have the budget for the vents they’d determined were “Too small for thieves to risk”.

Harper just took that as a challenge that she happily accepted.

It was silly how much she loved old things. She’d take something 3600 years old over something that was more priceless - because to her, the age, what it had seen, how a relic had survived, was far more priceless than something that just cost more.

Shimmying down into the vents from the roof into the smaller than ideal space, the thought of the Sky Disc kept her grinning. It was pretty, perfect, bronze, old, from her family history (being Aesir), and it was about to be _hers_. It wasn’t until 7 minutes in she started to regret the tight spaces. It really was very tight in spots, and she was having to use a lot more legend than she’d anticipated. Could she have walked through the walls and taken it? Sure. But the alarms would have sounded, it would have been messy, and she’d have had to do that three separate times what with in, grabbing and out. This way, if she needed to wall phase, it was only once. That and depending on magic was a dangerous game - if one became soft depending on magic alone, what happened if one day it was gone? She preferred to stay sharp.

But just now she was debating doing it anyway. The museum was closed, so the only thing she’d have to worry about was security. As she came upon the junction where she’d have come out if she’d come up from the basement, she was decidedly glad she’d not gone that way since she’d calculated it would take half again as long, and the crawl she was currently on was taking twice as long as calculated.

The sound of a voice echoing from down that shaft however froze her blood and set her hair on end. Not that she was afraid of vent monsters, just the sheer surprise of someone else being anywhere near her.

“Who’s there?” The voice called. “This is maintenance, and there’s not supposed to be anyone else in these vents right now.”

For half a heart beat Harper froze, thinking she might have missed something on maintenance logs, or what she could have possibly not seen - until she realized she _knew that voice_. Her expression went flat in annoyance, and a touch of amusement as she scoot back the few feet she’d passed to look over the edge of the vent straight down.

Sure enough, wedged and looking up, was Storm. His blue eyes went that steely grey that happened when he was annoyed, but there was a twitch to his eye that gave away he was at least a little happy to see who his interloper was.

“Maintenance? Really?” she asked, resting her chin on her hand as she looked down at him with a smile.

Her hair was just long enough to fall close to his face. and he blew at it slightly before giving that maddeningly handsome smile of his. “On the fly, I didn’t think it was too bad.”

“You’re stuck,” she observed gloatingly.

“You’re here for the Sky Disc,” he answered in the same tone.

“And?”

“And I’m not.”

Harper narrowed her eyes. “So I should help you because we’re not in opposition, even though I know damn well either you’re lying or going to try and take mine anyway.”

“That would be in very poor form of me,” he purred, trying to be convincing.

“But completely in habit and character!” Harper smiled and pulled off her glove, reaching down to brush hair from his face. He’d clearly been there a moment and she’d already decided to help him, but she was going to make him wait and sweat a little. “Besides, you were the one that left in Tangier.”

“I found out I had a tail. I had to leave to keep from being caught and putting you in danger.” His voice had softened a bit looking up at her, and Harper knew full well there was a good chance it was all an act, but even so, she loved their little moments like this. She knew he meant it sometimes, just because she could read him well. Here in the dark and his discomfort it was a little hard to tell.

“I’m sure you did,” she mumbled, but was looking at him fondly.

“And you were the one that left me in San Francisco,” he said and tilted his head with a smirk, turning it around on her. “Did you suddenly have a tail too?”

“No, I remembered my fear of commitment,” she said honestly, her voice a little softer.

His eyebrow quirked. “Fear of commitment, hmm? You know together you and I could rule the art scene.”

“No, not like that. I mean fear that if I committed to you, you’d break my heart.” He stilled and watched her a moment, actually turning his head slightly towards where her fingers were still playing in his hair, but didn’t take his eyes from hers.

“I wouldn’t.”

“Yes you would,” she laughed, like they were discussing a funny movie. “You’d be a kitsune with how many tails you’d suddenly have. It’s okay though,” she said and took her hand back, only to reach into her bag and produce some WD40, “I like what we have. We already rule the world better than anyone else. By the way, you’re going to want a shower.”

Before he could ask or really say anything else, she started dousing his arms and chest where he was stuck in WD40. However within a short time, he was wiggling his way free up to the slightly larger vent she was in, forcing Harper to move on ahead.

It was strange, they didn’t talk, beyond his wink of thanks, but she knew what it was and she’d been telling him the truth - she liked what they had. Maybe it was honor among thieves, and he was Sherlock to her Irene Adler… or maybe Moriarty to her Adler, she wasn’t sure. But whatever it was, it was fun, and it made her heart flutter to think she might run into him around any corner. Kind of like this.

She also found that other than her father, Storm was the only person she ever bothered to be honest with. She didn’t have friends, she didn’t like or trust people. She didn’t trust Storm either - but she liked him. He made things interesting, and fun and romantic and challenging and… she’d go on in her head like a schoolgirl if she let herself.

But there was a job to do.

“What are you looking for?” she whispered.

“The Orloff,” he said simply and despite being behind her she had no double he was smiling. Harper stopped mid crawl and frowned back at him.

“You’re out of your mind.”

“I have a replica.”

“Let me see it.”

“No, you’ll take it.”

“Who did you bring your Koh-i-Noor replica to?”

He didn’t say anything, but they both knew he’d brought it to her.

“And who still hasn’t noticed the fake? The Royal family or their security. Who told you not to use the Rosalind Diamond replica? Also me. And what happened when you sold it? Guy trying to fence it was arrested for the forgery and attempted fraud. So hand it over.”

“It’s dark in here, and covered in dust,” he argued, but she heard his bag rustling and soon enough the cold of glass was in her palm. Wiggling it up she wormed out her monocle and flash light to start inspecting. There was a tense, hot moment where they were sitting motionless in the vent as she inspected it thoroughly, and she heard Storm start to get grumpy just by the change in his breathing.

“It’ll work, but if you’re going to fence it, do it fast. The Orloff isn’t permanent here, which makes it easier to steal - but they’ll inspect it for damage before shipping it back and the inspector will see its glass.”

“This is the same guy that did the Koh-i-Noor,” he said as if that was an argument, “He said it was his best work.”

Handing him the diamond replica back and putting away her stuff, Harper nodded. “It is. It’s way better than the crown jewel work. However how often are the crown jewels inspected? Rarely. And even if they’ve discovered it, the royals aren’t going to admit it was stolen from under their noses. However the Russians would LOVE to claim the diamond was stolen from the Germans. They’re itching to start shit with everyone.”

Storm sighed. “Valid. And I’d considered that. It’s on display for two more weeks - that’s plenty of time to fence it and disappear.”

“Just don’t sell it to a Russian,” she whispered still, starting her crawl forward again.

“Why not?”

“I like your face how and where it is.”

 -

At the end of their adventures in 90s ductwork, Harper gently and silently removed the vent grate, setting it to the side to ease out onto the marble floor behind a large display, obscured from cameras. She shadowed her face to keep from being recognized if the camera did catch her, and wait until Storm was also silently and gracefully out of the grate to nod and split.

Both their pieces were in the same room, ten and a half feet from each other, but had to be approached oppositely when the cameras moved. Letting Storm go first because of the timing, she waited and watched as he expertly switched the diamonds and backed out without being seen. Next, Harper moved just as lithely, placing her replica in place and moving back before the camera was even close to near her.

Unfortunately it seemed fate chose this opportunity to Jinx them, as sometimes happened, and a flashlight hit Harper in the face, followed by the sound of the old security guard yelling “HALT!” in German. With a grumble and a touch of panic, Harper tucked the Disc in her bag, grabbed Storm’s wrist where he’d just stopped next to her and called on her legend, praying to her father and trying harder than she’d tried in a long time to be epic - and stepped back through the wall, pulling Storm with her. Doing so one more time had them outside and running through the manicured gardens of the museum until suddenly the ground was no longer under her, and Harper was being lifted by an arm around her waist.

Munich beneath her, Storm above, Harper watch the city fly by until they were landing atop City hall, the old steeple that was closed to the public. When her feet were down, she found her knees weren’t very steady and leaned partially against the wall, and partially against Storm to try and right that. “I fucking hate when that happens. We did everything right.”

“Except use a little magic, and got punched for it,” he sighed, leaning back on the tower as well. They stood there a moment before Harper slid to sit down, Storm short to follow and sat in silence, catching their breath from the near-caught experience. It was like near-death for a thief.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For…?”

“The untraceable escape.”

“You got us out in a way that they’ll never believe to think to even look for tracks.”

She smiled. “We have our talents.”

After a moment more of comfortable silence, she looked up from where she’d rest her head on his shoulder and the tension she felt every time they were like this began to grow. He smirked down at her, his arm coming more solid around her shoulders rather than just resting behind her. “I’m glad you were there,” he said softly, and for the first time all night, Harper was pretty sure he meant it.

“I’m glad you got stuck so I could see you.”

He snerked and rolled his eyes. “Rookie mistake.”

“No, I underestimated the vents too,” she said genuinely. “That place is a death trap.”

“Yeah but still. One day we’ll be divinely good, better than we are, and we won’t have to worry about that shit.”

“Won’t that take the fun and challenge away?” she asked playfully, poking his side gently. He just shrugged and stared into the distance. “Hey,” getting his attention, her green eyes made sure to hold his a moment until he focused on her. “We still have that retirement plan, right?”

“Our island that we buy when we’re bored of being thieves?” he asked and smirked. “Yeah, I remember. We were really drunk… but yeah, it sounded nice.”

“Well I need you to survive long enough to make it to retirement.” Her voice was soft, and more emotional than she meant for it to be, eyes never wavering from his. “So don’t get soft and depend too much on magic, okay? Sometimes it screws you - like tonight.”

He watched her a moment, like he wasn’t sure how to feel about her open affection, but then leaned down and kissed her sweetly. After a long breathless moment, he pulled back just enough so his lips brushed hers as he said; “I think you’re the only one who cares if I make it to retirement.”

Harper smiled. “And do you care if I do?”

“......Yeah. I do.”

“Then back atcha, Romeo.”

They parted ways after that, Storm landing them safely out of sight and both of them dissolving into the shadows metaphorically, but not without one last glance. A few weeks later, Harper read in the news that a man in Italy had been arrested for possession of the stolen Olaff diamond, but it was a young, italian businessman associated with the mob, and not Storm at all. The article made her smile. She sent him a clipping of it to one of his known alias boxes - email was too traceable, and a week later she was rewarded with a package; a display stand for a dinner plate that fit her Nebra Sky Disc perfectly.

****

She looked at the Nebra Sky Disc on that same stand on the shelf in her room at the new place in the bayou. The sounds of her new Band of Scions- Flynn puttering in his shop, Djet listening to some weird radio recording, and Aihbileen’s strange silence - provided a soundtrack to the tunnel vision her eyes seemed to have with the artifact tonight. It called to mind the most genuine words and kiss she’d ever shared with anyone, and with her only friend in the world at the time, and the threat of tears was overwhelming.

So instead, she just chugged the rest of the mead bottle, and threw it against the wall, shattering the glass in her corner. The Disc didn’t move - she still loved it, It just made her very sad now.

_It's always something less than what I thought we had before_   
_Like always, I'm blown away_   
_But right now, I feel the need for something more_   
_'Cause there's always, there's always right now_

**Author's Note:**

> Nebra Sky Disc - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebra_sky_disk  
> The Orloff (Orlov) Diamond - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebra_sky_disk  
> Barvaria national museum - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_National_Museum  
> Munich City hall - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Town_Hall_(Munich)


End file.
